Renn 8-9 Months

I begin teaching my children how to bake at around 8-9 months.  

Dear Renn's future wife-Your welcome.

He loves to walk around the house holding my hands, sometimes I need my hands so Renn's the first baby to have a death trap.  He loves it!  And he's crazy fast in it.

This is his funny, mischievous grin

 "I want to party in the middle of the night" grin.  sigh.

One day we were running a little late and I was driving Elise to preschool (five doors down in the subdivision) and I stuck him in her chair.  He was quite casual about it.  

He loves to use me as a jungle gym, climbing and crawling all over me.  I love when he will burrow lovingly in my neck but I always flinch a little as he gets there because he uses his two little chompers to climb.  Mommy's little vampire.

He loves the mirror and selfies.  Of course.

He loves walks, even when it decided to become cold overnight.  

He found the horn!  

Eight-nine months has been golden.  Renn was so unhappy in August and September I didn't think anyone was going to survive.  He refused to be put down, was not digesting food and would cry if I went out of the room.  It's all in the past now.  He is eating well, happily crawling/wrecking the house and napping (most of the time.)  Now if I could only get him to only wake up once in the night.  

A few notes:

Favorite food:  Green beans and to my horror ice cream-good job Jed.

He's crawling!  He zombie crawled for about two months, from the middle of September until just barely this week.  Jed thought we should attach a swiffer to him.  When dad's in charge...

He loves to play outside.  I have to keep a close eye on him, he's got a taste for rocks.

Bath time is now a favorite, he's discovered how to splash!

He waves, if you're lucky and points.  

He's growing so fast 81% for height and still 7% for weight.  And I thought he was starting to get a little meat on his chicken legs.  

Can we freeze time?  I only have 3 months left until the inevitable one year...

Family Pictures

We didn't do pictures last year, I was pregnant and in hiding and everything crept up on me too fast.  We knocked them out this year on Halloween.  Just one more thing to add to the madness.  And yes we literally knocked them out, Jed and Jack collided and Jed had a black eye for days.  Par for the course.  It wouldn't be family pictures unless someone was crying, hiding or bleeding.  I did my best that's all I can say and as I tell my children "Do your best and forget the rest!"  

Haunted Happenings

Documentation I actually made a craft and finished it.  The end.

School Halloween parade.  It was a lovely, breezy fall day and I enjoyed watching the kids.  

Jara was shy and embarrassed...

Jack owned it and soon as he saw me did the whole, finger point I'm a dude and will never be embarrassed in my life, wave.  He was quite pleased with himself.

I ran into the other Wheeler's and we played.  

Halloween night trick or treating.  

Black ninja, witchy-witch, my little punkin' and woodland Aurora. 

Let's not forget my magical unicorn.  

Carving up some Fun

The rule is-if you want to carve your own, you clean your own.

They squirm and complain but know I won't clean four pumpkins.

Jack requested me to carve an elk pumpkin but was still a good sport and cleaned his very own pumpkin he picked from the first grade trip to the pumpkin patch.

Jara tried to fashion gloves out of paper towels, eventually she got into the spirit of things.  She carved her very own zombie pumpkin, I put a damper on things and refused to let her use red food coloring to make it "bleed."  The knife slashes were scary enough.  

Renn helped too!  Helped eat pumpkin seeds!

Jed helped Elise carve, she was true to her happy little nature and requested a smiling jack o' lantern.

Smiley, elk, zombie

And this little number I carved on Halloween night as I passed out trick or treat candy.

In the Pines

Every now and then, particularly at the end of a long summer that is going strong well into October and just won't die, I declare a day of mountains/greenery/cooler air to soothe my soul.  We had an all day excursion beginning with a trip to the children's museum in St. George for Jed and the kids,  I avoid going to places like that like the plague.  My heart just can't handle watching the spreading of disease that goes on in such a cavalier manner.  They go with Jed who could care less if someone is licking a toy some other kid just wiped their boogers with and everyone has more fun.  I go get a pedicure or buy someone underwear, anything.  Anyway, back to the journey.  Next stop was a quick tour of the tabernacle, such amazing detail.  Moving along, brunch at the Bear Claw and because that wasn't healthy enough, donuts at the Fractured Prune.  Deep fried heaven.  (Go there it is so, so tasty, then up your life insurance.)  We then traveled about an hour to Pine Valley.  The trees were changing color, it was cold and picturesque and being in such a beautiful place restored my spirits.   On the way home we stopped at Snow Canyon state park and went on a little hike, those pictures are on Jed's phone, and after that it was dark and time to go back, with Elise, hopped up on donuts and "singing" the whole. way. home.

Look closely, this is a double stroller.

Renn liked cuddling in the cooler weather.

Tis' the Season

Flood Season that is.

Here is the very full Muddy River just east of my house.  Normally it's pathetic little trickle isn't visible from this vantage point.  We should probably go ahead and stop calling it a hundred year flood seeing as how this is the third time I have seen it like this in the  last two years.  Thankfully we slept a little better this year considering Jed wasn't building a bridge over the river and trying to perform an act of Moses to save many months of construction.  However, I know this flood was very horrible for those living in Overton and my heart goes out to them.

Lost City

If you ever see me on a Saturday wandering around the Lost City museum you know I've reached a new level of desperation.  When I've exhausted all of my resources and am too tired to travel to a destination with hordes of people, we go here.  I love Native American artifacts and I love rambling my way through the museum keeping up a running dialog of what various ancient tools were used.  Elise normally has the floor but in such an environment she is content to look around and listen to my dissertation on arrowheads, Renn is trapped contentedly in his stroller, and Jara can read so she is checking out everything on her own.  Jack, this trip, was deer hunting.  (Jed's third hunting trip in a month and a half.)  Explains the levels of desperation, yes, I think so.

Well, I've lived in a dungeon but never a pueblo.  Blessings counted.

I kept their interest with a little bribery.  I must admit if you are needing a last minute gift the shopping here is not too shabby.  We came away with rock candy suckers and fake gold/gemstones. I almost bought myself a lovely turquoise necklace as a reward.  Maybe Christmas.

Making good use of all the museum possibilities.  Below us is a pond full of interesting fowl, safely guarded behind a chain-link fence!  You know how I feel about things with wings.

Long Live the Lake

The last weekend of September most people are probably wearing jackets, alas, not when you live in Southern Nevada.  The first week of fall we say goodbye to the lake.  I refuse to go to the lake in October even if it is hot enough, there is just something wrong about everyone baking pumpkin crap and you're wringing out a swimming suit.  

September lake days are the best-they're hot but not scorching and almost always wind-free.  Even though you can't feel much of a change in the weather, you can see it in the sky.

Our family selfies need some work

My little lake rats.

See that sky, it gives me hope.

 Renn's second trip to the lake, he loved it so much this time.  

Being able to sit up and happily splash while eating  rocks brought great joy.